Baseball Picked To Finish 10th In BIG EAST Conference
1/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Seton Hall baseball received 32 points by the BIG EAST head coaches to finish 10th in the conference preseason polls for the 2010 season as announced by the BIG EAST Conference.
Louisville received nine first place votes to be tabbed the favorites to win the conference championship this season, following the 2009 campaign where they swept the regular season and conference championships. Junior shortstop from West Virginia Jedd Gyorko earned the preseason conference Player of the Year award while USF's junior right-hander Randy Fontenez was named the preseason Pitcher of the Year.
This season, the Pirates will be lead by junior right-hander Joe DiRocco (East Hanover, N.J.) as their lone returning weekend starter. In his first two seasons, DiRocco has appeared in 30 games with 18 starts, posting seven wins, one save, and 65 strikeouts in 110 innings. In the field, senior outfielder Michael Rogers (Portland, Ore.) and junior shortstop A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold, N.J.) also make their return to the Hall. In his first full season of action, Rogers batted .299 with 46 hits in 45 games, scoring 29 runs while driving in 23 in 2009. Rusbarsky begins his third season ranked seventh with 327 assists, just 77 behind former Pirates Tony Calabrese for second place.
2010 Preseason BIG EAST Baseball Coaches' Poll
1. Louisville (9) 119
2. USF (3) 113
3. Connecticut 94
4. St. John's 87
5. Notre Dame 84
6. West Virginia 79
7. Cincinnati 53
8. Rutgers 49
9. Pittsburgh 44
10. Seton Hall 32
11. Villanova 23
12. Georgetown 15
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year:
Jedd Gyorko, Jr., SS, West Virginia
Preseason BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year:
Randy Fontanez, Jr., RHP, USF
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Pos. Name, Class, School Key 2009 Stats
P Randy Fontanez, Jr., USF * 7-3, 3.09 ERA, 99.0 IP, 57 K, 24 BB, .250 OBA
P Jarryd Summers, Jr., West Virginia 7-3, 3.05 ERA, 94.1 IP, 99 K, 35 BB, .239 OBA
P Cole Johnson, Jr., Notre Dame 7-3, 4.56 ERA, 94.2 IP, 64 K, 36 BB, .252 OBA
P Tony Zych, So., Louisville 6-2, 3.25 ERA, 2 SV, 44.1 IP, 31 K, 10 BB, .235 OBA
C Erick Fernandez, Jr., Georgetown .349, 5 HR, 28 RBI
C Jeff Arnold, Sr., Louisville .246, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 13 SB
1B Andrew Clark, Sr., Louisville * .350, 9 HR, 55 RBI
2B Adam Duvall, Sr., Louisville .328, 11 HR, 51 RBI, 12 SB
SS Jedd Gyroko, Jr., West Virginia * .421, 8 HR, 58 RBI
3B Dan DiBartolomeo, Jr., West Virginia .439, 8 HR, 59 RBI, 5 SB
OF George Springer, So., Connecticut * .358, 16 HR, 57 RBI, 12 SB
OF Stewart Ijames, So., Louisville .349, 8 HR, 39 RBI (2008)
OF Jimmy Parque, Jr., St. John's .360, 5 HR, 61 RBI
OF Junior Carlin, Jr., USF .384, 0 HR, 27 RBI
DH Matt Szczur, So., Villanova .346, 1 HR, 24 RBI, 18 SB
* - unanimous selection
